While Albany County prosecutors last week declared Brown's actions "did not rise to the level where criminal liability could be assessed," investigators who oversee the retirement system are examining Brown's file. "We're in the process of reviewing that," Comptroller Tom DiNapoli told the Times Union on Monday.

Brown was paid $117,117 from three posts in Green Island — where many employees work for the enmeshed village, town, power authority and industrial development agency — in 2010, and submitted retirement papers in July of last year.

He listed Sept. 30 as the effective date, but continued working for three months before leaving the payroll with the new year. An employee may earn up to $30,000 a year from a municipal entity and still collect a pension without applying for a special waiver; Brown was paid $29,615, records show.

Ellen McNulty-Ryan, the mayor of Green Island who replaced Brown as chairman of the power authority, said this was outrageous and that she did not know he had submitted retirement papers.

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That is preposterous, said Jerry J. Jennings, an attorney Brown hired earlier this year. DiNapoli's office sent letters to Tina Burns, a Green Island employee, on three instances after Brown filed his paper, and she replied twice.

"On behalf of our client, I find it hard to believe that folks in Green Island did not know what was taking place," said Jennings, who only learned of the comptroller's review on Monday. "It is perfectly legal, up to a certain monetary threshold, to collect your retirement and still collect a salary. It would come as a surprise to us if there was a deviation from that retirement law."

McNulty-Ryan disputed this vehemently: "We did not know. We did not know. Tina Burns knew, she was the only one who knew, and Jack instructed her she was not to talk to anyone."

DiNapoli, speaking to the Times Union after an event in Albany, said there were times when it was legitimate for public employees to retire and be rehired in a similar capacity. In 2011, DiNapoli successfully pushed for a law letting his examiners see local government payrolls to guard against instances when this was not done aboveboard. He did not say there was a clear need for new legislation.

"I think, increasingly, the trend has been to crack down more on people who were just gaming the system," he said. "The argument the other way is that if people retire and they come back for a little bit of time, it can be cheaper for the taxpayers."